Rowfant Book Club

The Rowfant Club is a Cleveland, Ohio book club. I was commissioned to design a bronze candlestick to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of their founding.

A groundhog is their mascot, and the candlestick was required to incorporate a representation of the groundhog. The lighted candle casts a shadow on the flame arising from the book, and it reveals a woodchuck.

The ROWFANT CLUB (1892), located at 3028 Prospect Ave. is an association founded 29 Feb. 1892, whose members are interested in “primarily the critical study of books in their various capacities to please the mind of man.” Membership is by invitation. The club was named for Rowfant, the home of Frederick Locker-Lampson (1821-95), near Crawley, Sussex, England. Locker-Lampson, a writer of light verse, was a leading book collector of his time.

In Oct. 1895 the club acquired its present premises, a home designed and built in 1838 for George Merwin by who built the First Presbyterian Church (Old Stone). The Rowfant Club maintains a library with an emphasis on papermaking, printing, and book production. Lectures are a regular part of the club’s programs, generally bookish or cultural, in keeping with the interests of the club.